Tag Archives: data

Only three percent of survey participants believe the October 22 showdown changed how they will vote on November 6th, according to a survey conducted with Florida Voter’s Voice, an online research panel of likely voters developed and managed by qSample.

This unique survey was deployed immediately after the debate and indicates the state’s voters are skewing towards Barack Obama, but with 23% still undecided.

Of note – 64% of panel participants indicated the foreign policy topics debated are important to them in this election. When asked whom they think won the debate, 52% choose President Obama versus 31% for Governor Romney. Also, 42% of respondents confirmed that they consider themselves a Democrat versus 35% of the survey population that declared themselves Republican.

In fact, 99% of voters who consider themselves “strong” Democrats believe Obama won the debate last night and 72% of “strong” Republicans considered Romney the winner.
These party affiliation numbers are not as tight as those forecasted in the nation-wide presidential race, but it confirms how influential the Independent voters are in this key campaign state.

Florida has 29 electoral-college votes to be won, and when asking these Independent voters who won Monday night’s debate, 55% gave the nod to Obama, while 30% sided with Romney and 15% called it a draw.

Florida Voter’s Voice participants are highly committed to this election, with 98% of respondents planning to vote in next month’s election and the remaining 2% indicating they had voted early. Other majority characteristics of this survey include: 70 % of the respondents are Caucasian, 93% are over 35 years old and gender evenly represented.

Florida Voter’s Voice is part of VoterFeedback.com – a robust online panel of likely voters nationwide, developed by qsample. For firms that are in need of a quality sample of likely voters, VoterFeedback provides access to millions of respondents who are highly profiled and recruited to participate in a variety of research initiatives.

Medical tourism, also referred to as international medical migration, patient migration and medical travel, is a new term but not a new idea. A market driven industry, Medical Tourism is shaped by the complex interactions of myriad medical, economic, social and political forces. Medical tourists embark on worldwide journeys for health care to lower costs, decrease wait times, and access medical services that aren’t available in their home country.

For patients from countries where a governmental health care system regulates access to health care, the reason to leave the local market is the desire to have timely treatment, circumventing delays associated with long waiting lists. Because national health programs and some insurance programs do not fund cosmetic surgery and similar types of services, patients seeking these services are driven to pursue medical tourism. Patients also travel to medical tourism destinations for procedures that are not available in their own countries. For example, stem cell therapy, unobtainable by many patients in industrialized countries, is available in the medical tourism marketplace. The now deceased Charlie’s Angels star, Farah Fawcett, struggled to find a cure for cancer three years ago, which ultimately took her to Germany for a unique procedure that was not available in the United States.

Resources are insufficient for people to comfortably purchase care in their local market, but adequate for them to buy care in lower-cost foreign facilities. An additional benefit is that another country provides privacy and confidentiality for patients undergoing plastic surgery, sex change procedures and drug rehabilitation; their medical records cannot be viewed by the myriad parties who can access these documents in the United States.

While much has been written about medical tourism and its impacts and ethics, little research has been conducted to quantify the reasons that consumers participate in it.

qSample conducted a study to target a wide range of global consumers on their experiences and consideration of medical tourism. The study used an international sample of potential medical tourists with an estimated 575 participants. Download the full white paper here.

A survey conducted by BoomerOpinions this month revealed some fascinating findings about retirement prospects for the baby boomer generation.

Sixty percent of the nearly 400 baby boomers surveyed thought it was realistic they could retire within the next ten years. However, 25% of respondents expressed doubts about their imminent retirement prospects.

In a New York Times article entitled, Goodbye Golden Years, Harvard economist Edward Glaeser cited statistics sure to elicit fear in those of us hoping to retire at some point during the next ten years. He suggested that, “Retirement seems out of the question for increasing numbers of Americans who are saddled with debt and whose savings evaporated during the recent bust.”

Our parents’ generation, the so-called “Silent Generation” (those born during the great depression and WWII) enjoyed a retirement scenario unprecedented in our history, and one that, as this data indicates, may not be available to all of us. But, don’t despair. Did we ever really envision playing golf four days a week? (OK, so maybe one or two days a week.)

I can’t imagine not being productive, not contributing, not making my own money. Participants in the BoomerOpinions.com poll were asked the following question:

“If you had the opportunity to change your occupation at this point in your life, how likely would you be to do so?”

Forty-six percent responded positively, saying they were quite likely to do so. I found this data amazing and affirming. I’m one of those Lady Boomers trying her hand at various creative entrepreneurial endeavors so it was nice to know my aspirations had company.

Glaeser went on to argue that America needs more entrepreneurship. Baby Boomer can be the leaders in this entrepreneurship as they seek to reinvent themselves, as this data suggests they are willing to do.

West Palm Beach, a retiree haven, has the highest self-employment rate of any metropolitan area in the nation, consistent with other areas in the country attracting older Americans. Self-employment makes sense because it allows for more control over working hours and conditions. And our generation loves control.

Many of us have spent years waking up at 6:00 am to be at a job we found depleting. If we are not going to be able to kick back, drive a golf cart and play bridge all day, lets envision a different kind of retirement for ourselves.

Here are a few suggestions:

Develop an exercise plan; join a YMCA or other gym; walk or ride a bike. We are going to need to stay healthy for this next phase, and exercise is a critical component. Make sure your employment endeavors can accommodate your exercise schedule, so you don’t have to be going to the gym at 5:30 in the morning.

Choose an enterprise that fits your circadian rhythm (internal clock) one that allows you to arise and go to bed at a time best suited for you.

Delve into your psyche through journaling or quiet reflections; explore what you have a passion for. You may want to undergo a personality assessment to discover a field that suits you.
Make it fun. We are the generation who invented rock and roll. We like to have fun. Now is your chance…Here’s to meeting the new you.

For more information about BoomerOpinions, please go to boomers.micropanel.com.

by Liz Kitchens

Liz Kitchens has years of professional experience conducting research and focus groups with the boomer generation. She is a frequent writer and blogs for a number of web sites, such as Boomer Café, Vibrant Nation, Skirt.com and Growing Bolder. She specializes in issues related to women of the Baby Boomer generation – women she refers to as Lady Boomers.

A new poll conducted among Florida likely voters shows President Obama with a 4 percentage point lead over former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney in this key battleground state, 47% to 43%, with 11% of voters undecided.

Two times as many Florida voters have an unfavorable view (65%) of Governor Rick Scott as a favorable one (31%).

In the presidential race, Obama is leading Romney 47% to 26% among independent voters, with 27% undecided. Women give the nod to Obama, 49% to 36%, while men are split evenly, with 45% supporting each candidate.

President Obama’s lead is just beyond the poll’s margin of error of +/-3.8 percentage points at a 95% confidence level. The survey was conducted from March 20th to April 13th among 677 members of the Voterfeedback online survey panel in Florida.

A majority of Floridians polled have a favorable view of President Obama (55% favorable, 45% unfavorable), while Mitt Romney’s ratings are split, with 47% having a favorable view and 50% having an unfavorable view.

In the race for U.S. Senate, 44% say they would vote for Democratic Senator Bill Nelson in a matchup with Republican Connie Mack (31%), with 25% undecided.

Voterfeedback is a service of qSample and is the first online panel allowing an accurate gauge of the voting population in a battleground state.

The new qSample poll, conducted on March 22nd prior to the first round of Sweet 16 games revealed that Americans’ top picks to make the NCAA men’s basketball Final Four were Michigan State (44% thought they would make the Final Four), Ohio (36%), Kansas (36%) and Kentucky (32%).

Americans’ top pick to win the tournament were Kentucky (14%), Michigan State (14%), Syracuse (12%) and Ohio (11%).

Alas, Michigan State lost to Louisville 57 to 44 Thursday night. Louisville was picked to win it all by only 3% of Americans; 20% predicted a Final Four berth for the Cardinals.

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